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NFL Draft First Round Round Up

  • Writer: Tyler Webb
    Tyler Webb
  • Jun 1, 2017
  • 9 min read

So the 2017 NFL draft has past by, and it definitely was an eventful one. Overall, there was a record breaking 34 trades by the end of the 3 day event. The Browns took advantage of what they had in their three 1st round picks, and I believe won the draft. Obviously the Browns taking Myles Garrett with the first pick wasn’t shocking but what the Bears kind of was. Shocking as in leaving you with a lot of questions, by trading up one spot to select Mitchell Trubisky with the 2nd pick overall. Trading 3 picks and swapping your current pick to move up one spot? For a player that would most likely still be there? Obviously doesn’t make a lot of sense, especially when you factor in the fact they just signed Mike Glennon from the Bucs, but only time can tell if this was worth it. One pick that won't take as much time is Solomon Thomas going 3rd to the San Francisco 49ers. This pick makes a lot of sense, keeping the Stanford prospect in Cali, and finding your “Michael Bennett” type defensive linemen. After the draft the 49ers reported they would use him as their Leo end, and move him inside on some pass rushing style defenses. With the 4th pick, the Jacksonville Jaguars did the smart move and drafted their future franchise running back in Leonard Fournette. More importantly they drafted someone to take pressure off Blake Bortles, and allow him to pass to his 100s of weapons in that offense.

Fournette will most likely still provide something to fall back on if they decide to move on next year at the quarterback position as well. At pick five the Titans went with their gut and took Corey Davis, wide receiver from Western Michigan, who didn’t record anything at the NFL combine or at his pro day. I am sure Marcus Mariota was fine with the pick but most viewed it as a bit of a reach considering they also had the 18th pick. I think Davis was the right choice of the three wide receiver prospects in this year's first round, providing a perfect combo of the other two prospects. The New York Jets once again had a top 3 prospect fall into their lap at pick 6 and that was Jamal Adams. I mocked Adams going as high as 2nd, and even heard reasons why he should go 1st overall (as much of a stretch that is). He is another key piece to a very good youthful defense for the Jets, and that will help whoever the quarterback they go with in the future. The Chargers took their first pick as the LA Chargers, taking wide out from Clemson, Mike Williams. I had them getting safety help almost all year, though wide receiver was one of their top 3 needs. This will help take some hits off Keenan Allen and also give Rivers another solid weapon to assure the passing attack. A rumor that built up very quickly towards the end of the draft, and that turned out to be fact was Carolina’s interest in Christian McCaffrey with the 8th pick. All season i projected the Panthers to go defense with this pick, but Carolina opted to emphasize Cam’s talent and get him weapons. Christian McCaffrey is going to be an electric player in the NFL, but I question his ability to take the punishment of an NFL running back. 200 Lbs is a small frame to carry into the NFL, but his ability to be a wide receiver is unheard of. When the Bengals took John Ross with the 9th pick, my heart shattered into a billion pieces, and I will admit i was pushed to tears (Sad as that my sound it’s no exaggeration). It took me awhile to see why in general, out of all people, John Ross. I just got done saying 200 Lbs was light and this man weighs 185 Lbs in his pads, but he also can run a 4.21 while hurt. He can take the top off any defense and let A.J. get more one on one matchups. With Tyler Boyd, and John Ross, the Cincinnati Bengals are setting Andy Dalton up for as much as they can. The 10th pick shocked a lot of people but only excited myself. The Bills traded down and the Chiefs traded up to select Patrick Mahomes at 10th overall. I wasn’t expecting for him to go before Watson or at 10th but I did believe the Chiefs wanted to move on from Alex Smith after seeing how electric their offense could be. I was high on Mahomes all throughout the process and believed he was the 2nd best QB prospect, only behind Deshaun Watson. The Saints went on and used their first, first round pick on Marshon Lattimore from Ohio State. Snagging Lattimore with the 11th pick solved probably the Saints biggest need which was their secondary, and many had Lattimore as the best overall corner in this draft. He does have a small injury bug, but if he stays healthy he could be a nice piece in a rebuilding defense. The Texans and the Browns helped each other out again and traded picks, giving the Texans the 12th pick. With this pick the Texans selected Deshaun Watson, and finally seems to find their quarterback of the future. Not only did the Browns take Brock Osweiler off the Texans hands, they also gave them Deshaun Watson basically too. I couldn’t think of a better place for Watson to go to, considering they are one good QB from a Super Bowl run, and Watson brings in a championship culture into that offense. With all the 1st round quarterbacks taken, the Cardinals went with Hasson Riddick from Temple at 13th overall. I like Hasson Riddick but with Reuben Foster still on the board, I don't see why you would take him even over an injured Foster. Malik Hooker also would have been an interesting prospect for the Cardinals. The hometown Philadelphia Eagles went defensive end, snubbing Jonathan Allen, and selecting Derek Barnett for Tennessee. I use the word snubbing lightly, as Derek Barnett did break Reggie White’s all time sack record at Tennessee, and was one of the view consistent players for the team. The Colts surprised everyone and drafted an actual need in the first round with Malik Hooker. Before his surgery, I had Hooker rated as the #2 safety in this draft, and projected him to go 7th overall giving the Colts great value at 15th. Malik Hooker will give Andrew Luck a few more chances to get in the endzone and that’s exactly what the Colts could use.

My favorite corner coming out of this draft was Marlon Humphrey, from Alabama who went 16th overall to the Baltimore Ravens. He provides length with nearly 33 inch arms and speed at the position as he was a track star in high school, and ran a 4.4 at the NFL combine. The Redskins began yet another good year of drafting by using the 17th pick on one of the biggest steals of the night in Jonathan Allen. I had Allen going in the top 5 all year, as did a majority of many analyst until about 2 weeks before the draft. He has had injury issues, but if that's true he dominated the SEC with a hurt shoulder, which kind of makes it more impressive. The Skins got a player that can play anywhere you want on the defensive line and get production from him. With the Titans back on the clock, already addressing their need at receiver, everyone knew the Tennessee was thinking cornerback. The Titans had been close with Adoree Jackson through most the process, as he slowly gained traction in the draft. I had Jackson mocked as a high second round late first round draft pick, and with players like Gareon Conley and Tre’Davious White, the Titans seemed to reach for yet another play maker. With the 18th pick passing by, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were on the clock. A few teams are on the fringe of being contenders, such as the Titans and the Bucs, and are just looking for those extra key pieces to a playoff push. Giving Jameis Winston the keys to the ship, and making sure he can succeed was the number one priority, and drafting O.J Howard gives Winston a brand new sail to that ship. O.J Howard was the best kept secret in the NCAA, standing at 6’6 250 Lbs, yet runs a 4.5 and has superior blocking skills to protect his new passer. The Broncos and Garett Bolles have been paired together for awhile now, so it’s only fit that they took him with the 20th pick. Other than the Broncos picking up on my idea to take Jabrill Peppers to add to that super defense, I had the Broncos going OT every other time. The only linebacker that competed with Reuben Foster's skill set this year was Jarrad Davis from Florida. Watching his tape, you can see the natural instinct to get to the ball, and pop whoever has it. The Lions needed a lot of help at LB and selecting Davis with the 21st pick plugged that hole and should leave a big year one impact along that defense. This year had one of the deeper overall classes, especially on the defensive line. The Dolphins got Charles Harris, who probably would have been a top 12 pick in last years draft class at 22nd this year. Missouri quietly is becoming a defensive line factory, which gives me a lot of hope when I watch Charles Harris’ tape. The New York Giants shocked a majority of people selecting Mississippis glorified tight end, Evan Engram. Engram broke the combine with his athletic performance, topping it off with a blazing 4.4 40 time. I had a third round grade on him still, but many NFL scouts had him going late first to mid second round. The most controversial pick of the first round was Oakland pulling the trigger on falling corner Gareon Conley. Conley was involved in a sexual assault back at Ohio State that still looms over him, causing another top 10 talent to fall. The Raiders needed to hit on drafting a corner as their pass defense as struggled for years, even with the additions of Reggie Nelson and Sean Smith. At pick 25 the Browns were finally back on the clock, and they made a splash with it. Hue Jackson loved Jabrill Peppers, as did I after watching his tape. He chose to play at a position of need for Michigan, even if it wasn't where he was best used which just shows how versatile and confident the young man is. Hue Jackson is the perfect leader to keep Peppers on track to be a Hall of Famer and I think both parties understand that. The Seahawks owned the 26th pick but the Falcons traded up from 31st to grab Vic Beasley some extra help on the other end in Takkarist McKinley. The edge rusher from UCLA gave one hell of a speech, showing just how intense he can be. I loved it, and if I'm the Falcons that's how I'd want my defensive end to be. McKinley has enough speed to be a stand up rusher, and I even saw him play inside linebacker on a few plays for the Bruins. The Bills dropped all the way from 10th to 27th and were still able to fill a major need with Tre’Davious White from LSU. White provided a spark on his return ability on punts and even showed them on his interceptions. White will hopefully fill the role left by Stephon Gilmore. The Dallas Cowboys had the 28th pick and really could have selected any defensive player and it be an improvement to the team. They used their pick on Michigan's edge rusher Taco Charlton, who was mocked as high as 9th to the Bengals in some drafts. I personally think TJ Watt would have been better but like I said anyone would have improved their defense.

The Browns made their final selection of the night on offense drafting the superhuman tight end from Miami, David Njoku. Njoku has been one of my favorite prospects in this year's class, and I had him mocked to the Browns but with the original 12th pick. Grabbing him at 29th was taking the best player available and filling a need at the same time. The Steelers were like the Cowboys, in the sense that whoever they draft on defense would most likely have an immediate impact on their defensive unit. At pick 30 they selected TJ Watt from Wisconsin, feeling the need on the edge for the Steel Curtain. On to the 31st pick, where the Seahawks traded out of the first round, giving the 49ers the best overall pick in this years draft, Reuben Foster. Why he fell so far just due to a shoulder injury, not causing him to miss any playing time, is beyond me. A Ray Lewis type player almost fell into the second round and the 49ers defense now has their next Patrick Willis. Rounding out the first round is the Saints with the team’s second selection of the night. They drafted towards the offensive line and took Ryan Ramczyk from Wisconsin. Wisconsin produces great offensive linemen, and Ramczyk looks to be the next one on that list. The NFL Draft is always an exciting event for me, and this year no exception. The Texans nabbing Watson is going to show what I have been saying about him all year, and why he is the true number one quarterback of this draft.

On the quarterback note, the Bears are going to regret Trubisky in my opinion. They don’t have any real weapons for him for him to go to, and they still have Glennon battling the whole time. We watched the Browns completely reshape their team with this 1st round class, and on the flip side of that I feel like the Cardinals flopped their first round pick even though Riddick will be a good NFL player. I am curious to see which players from the Ohio State secondary make it big time in the NFL and same is to say all the defensive players Bama just pumped out.

 
 
 

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